In recyclable paper processing systems, raw material in the form of recyclable paper and old newspaper (“ONP”) and the like is fed to a grinder which grinds the paper before the ground material is mixed with water. The resulting particulate, or pulp, is then subjected to further processing depending on the product to be formed from the recycled paper.
Conventionally, the feed of recyclable paper to recyclable paper processing systems has been regulated manually. This is because no suitable systems have been available to provide automated paper feed. Manual regulation of the paper feed, however, has a number of drawbacks including the requirement to have one or more persons dedicated to that function. Another problem is that feeding of the material to the system manually relies on the operator's “judgement” rather than providing a correctly needed amount for the system. As a result the performance of the processing system downstream is usually less than optimum due to overfeeding or underfeeding of paper to the grinder.